Chapter 15 - House Arrest
Michael was released on house arrest pending the new trial.
He was confined to his parents' sprawling estate, complete with an ankle monitor.
It offered a small measure of comfort, knowing his exact location, but it didn't stop the mind games.
He couldn't physically reach me, but he reached out in other ways.
He hired a public relations firm to rehabilitate his image.
Articles started appearing in local papers, painting him as the victim of a vindictive ex-wife out for his money.
They highlighted his philanthropic work, his business acumen, glossing over the domestic violence charges as "a misunderstanding blown out of proportion." It was infuriating.
I was hiding in a cabin like a criminal, while he was living in luxury, manipulating the narrative.
The harassment from Cole Rivers continued, subtle but terrifying.
A dead bird left on my car windshield in town.
A picture of Tyler playing at the cabin, slipped under the windshield wiper.
They knew where we were.
The mountain retreat was compromised.
I showed the photo to Dad.
His jaw tightened.
He went to his truck and pulled out the shotgun.
"We’re not running anymore," he declared.
"We’re going back to the city.
We’re going to face this head-on." I agreed.
Hiding was destroying us from the inside out.
We moved back into my apartment.
Dad moved in with us, sleeping on the floor in the living room, his weapon always within reach.
The tension was suffocating.
We were living in a state of constant siege.
One night, a rock crashed through the living room window.
Attached to it was a note: 'Tick tock.' Dad charged out the door, into the darkness, but whoever threw it was gone.
The police arrived, took a report, and left.
They were useless.
I realized then that if we were going to survive this, we had to go on the offensive.
We had to find something on Michael, something so damning that even his high-priced lawyers couldn't spin it.
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I started digging into his past, reaching out to former employees, old friends, anyone who might have seen the monster behind the mask.
The real fight was about to begin.
